Collins uses CBO score to rip House healthcare bill

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) knocked the House-passed healthcare bill on Wednesday, saying a new report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows that the legislation will hit older, low-income Americans especially hard.

“Unfortunately, the CBO estimates that 23 million Americans would lose insurance coverage over the next decade, and the impact would disproportionately affect older, low-income Americans,” Collins said in a statement.

GOP senators quickly distanced themselves from the House-passed ObamaCare repeal-and-replace legislation after the CBO analysis was released on Wednesday afternoon showing millions without insurance if the bill were enacted.

{mosads}Collins noted the CBO’s finding that a 64-year-old person with an income of $26,500 would see out-of-pocket premium costs soar from $1,700 to as high as $16,100 in some cases — an 850 percent increase, something Democrats highlighted at a press conference earlier Wednesday.

Still, Collins maintained that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as ObamaCare, needs substantial reform.

“The individual health insurance markets are in danger of collapsing in many states, 28 million Americans remain without coverage, and those who do have coverage are experiencing huge spikes in out-of-pocket costs,” she said.

Collins and her GOP colleague Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.) have met with a group of Republican and Democratic senators to negotiate alternative legislation based on a proposal they introduced earlier this year.

The group has met separately from the 13-member working group that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has convened to rewrite the House bill, which narrowly passed that chamber earlier this month.

“I urge my colleagues to support the comprehensive ACA replacement plan Sen. Cassidy and I introduced that will allow more Americans to obtain health insurance, preserve significant consumer protections and help moderate the cost of healthcare,” she said.